A Night to Remember! - by McP

As Alison wrote in the previous post, I went to the Lufthansa office this morning with Alina and Mac. We bought baby Cal's ticket to his new country! It was a great feeling to be handed a ticket to the USA under the passenger name "Calvin Poston."

Mac and Alina called their Aunt Jan and wished her a Happy Birthday! They love to talk to people from home, and loved being the first to call Jan as we are eleven hours ahead of her.

Later this morning, we got a call from Moonkyung, the friend of our friend Karen Paik back home and the wife of the Ambassador for the Republic of Korea. We were invited to their home this evening for what she said would be an "informal" dinner. We really liked this family after meeting them at the Hyatt for lunch last Sunday. We gratefully accepted, and loaded up our gang for the drive to the address she gave us.

Emil was unfamiliar with the street name, but knew the area. We went to the Embassy for South Korea to ask directions. This was in the extreme South of Almaty, very high above the rest of the city. We came upon a gated community with a guard. A moment later we were standing in front of the most beautiful home we have seen in Kazakhstan.

Ambassador Ill-Soo Kim met us at the door, which opened up into a great room with 20' ceilings and many furnished areas for multiple gatherings. Cal's eyes gleamed at the most indoor space he had probably ever seen in his life! He soon saw another thing he had never seen: Moonkyung's daughter Caroline brought out a sweet looking calico kitten, three months old. What we were not expecting was that this was the wildest, crazyest cat any of us had ever seen! It was full of energy, and stalked us all around the great room like the elusive snow leopard in the mountains just to the South of us! Cal was enthralled with this creature, but a bit scared as well. The thing was not much bigger than a kitten just able to live on its own, but it obviously thought it was an Asian Tiger. It chased the children all around the house, retreating only to a group of plants to watch its prey and plan its next pounce! Alison's heart melted, obviously feeling withdrawals from her Kitty back home.

We were led to a beautiful dining room, and then were feted with a seven-course feast! We had the best meal, not only in Kazakhstan, but almost ever, anywhere! Let me just list a few of the items: A dumpling soup, a salad with two dressings, Namul (multi-vegetables, shredded and marinated) Korean chicken (Alina and Mac's favorite), Pab (rice), Bean and Chestnut dish, Dried Seaweed (quite good!) with rice, a VERY spicy Kimchi (pickled salted Korean cabbage, layered with garlic, ginger, chilli pepper), and a very thin beef steak (another favorite of Mac, Alina and Alison!).



We had hours of pleasant conversation, and Cal amazed our hosts by playing "peep-eye" with the table cloth and clapping his hands when asked by Alison. Alina was by far the most gracious guest, carefully minding her table manners and constantly adjusting the napkin on her lap. I noticed that she even tried to laugh when it was appropriate (even if she did not understand much of the conversation the adults were having). It took the chicken course to stop Mac's figeting, but it did the trick.

After the main courses, Moonkyung's dauthter Caroline took Alina and Mac into her room where they watched Spongebob Squarepants (in English!). Alison and I enjoyed the conversation with the adults. Moonkyung kept taking things back into the room with the children, what we later learned were various candies and desert treats.

We were given coffee, a desert, pear and orange slices, a chocolate mint and finally a Russian cognac.

I write all of these details in an effort to remember one of our most pleasant times in Kazakhstan, thanks to the Republic of Korea and our hosts. Again, I cannot thank Karen Paik enough for putting us in contact with this great family.




After dinner, Cal was let loose on the beautiful hard wood floor. He made an all out run (o.k., a fast crawl) into the great room. I followed him, and watched him take a lap around the baby grand piano and then straight back to his Mama in the dining room. I figure it was an after-dinner lap to make more room for food, and Moonkyung then brought him a little star-shaped pancake, which he loved.




I seriously doubt that we will ever again be the guests of an ambassador, so we relished the evening. The children loved Caroline and begged to stay longer, but we had to get back to the apartment and put the children to bed.




Late tonight, Alison and I just sat on the sofa, amazed at the evening we had just experienced. Things are going to start happening quickly now. We go back to Esik on Tuesday, and tonight Emil asked for Cal's passport photos so he could deliver them to Gulnara to her home tonight. We are starting to think in terms of packing for home, and taking in whatever else there is before the weather gets too cold. The weather is indeed starting to change here.

Meanwhile, back home Mac's ELC group from St. Nicholas School sent another heartfelt greeting to their classmate and his sister:



We have successfully tested with Ms. Mitchell a webcam link between Alina and Mac and their classmates back home. We are looking forward to sharing some things we have learned while in Kazakhstan with the children back at home, as soon as Monday. - McP